The Pariahs

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Book excerpt

The Lockdown 

I was asleep when they came. Two of them armed with Kalashnikovs, dressed in radiation suits. One grabbed my hair and dragged me out of the warm bed, the last time I would ever sleep on a soft mattress. The other man aimed a rifle at my face before turning it around and knocking me out with the butt.

I woke trembling on cold cement. With blurred vision I still managed to make out a shape in the distant corner—the shadow of a human body—small, immobile and frigid. I attempted to stand, but my weak legs buckled, and I collapsed back onto the filthy concrete.

Out of breath, I lay there and examined the surroundings. Stark, grey walls with cracks varying in size from hairline fractures to open fissures surrounded me like a map of veins.

The air dank and musty. The only source of light came from a tiny window covered with bars at least twenty feet above and out of reach. Two beds made of straw lined opposite walls. It appeared to be some sort of cell.

I rubbed my sore feet and noticed a small hole in the middle of the floor. No obvious toilet stood out so I came to the conclusion that this was meant to be my latrine. The body in the corner suddenly shifted. I flinched and crawled away until I backed into a wall. Long, black hair covered the face.

“Urgh…Demyan?”

The voice I recognized immediately and quickly shimmied towards it.  I gently moved and held her delicate body in my arms, brushing hair from her face.

“Akilina, you’re alive,” I whispered tenderly.

I stared at her face for a long time. Akilina’s eye was still closed; the other eye… missing. A giant lump decorated her abnormal forehead that stuck out like a Rhino’s horn. Tears of joy flowed down my face. I was grateful to share the cell with my sister.

Akilina lay listless in my arms. Gathering all my strength, I rose, and walked as if carrying an anvil through quicksand, to place her frail body onto one of the straw beds. My legs and arms quivered with exhaustion for several minutes afterward.

Whilst she slept, I inspected the walls. I searched for any messages that the previous occupant might have left but found nothing. The cell’s door did not budge when I pushed against them with all my might.

I considered the gutter for a moment but it was too narrow for either of us. We were trapped.

Voice From The Deep

The next morning, I found two bowls of porridge and couple glasses of water on the ground. How strange, I had not heard anyone come in. The shock of abduction must have taken a toll on my system. Ravenous, I ate like a beast and slowly spoon-fed Akilina. She was still weak and traumatized. Blobs of sweat formed on her giant forehead, a clear sign of fever. Stroking her black curls, I left her to sleep in peace and started to pace the dark cell, hoping an escape plan would form in my mind.

I was born with a hip deformity that made running impossible. The disaster itself had occurred more than seventeen years ago. Mother often spoke about it and how it killed my father. She also blamed his genes for our deformities.

“I should’ve aborted you both,” she often said to me.

But I wasn’t angry with her. I would have aborted myself if I had the chance. I was always different, not because of my physical abnormalities, but I saw the world differently from everyone else I knew.

I felt grotesque but at least I was blessed with intelligence. I possessed more brainpower than the other kids born after the radiation.

Mother used to scare us with stories of the government that collected naughty children and locked them away in an asylum hidden deep in the most isolated parts of Siberia, so we were always well-behaved.

I paced the cell for several minutes. How could we possibly escape? I did not even know where we were! I had no relatives except my sister and mother, both captured and locked in this hellish place.

Akilina stirred and moaned softly. I knelt beside her and felt her forehead. She was burning up fast. What could I do to decrease her temperature? Suddenly, I heard a metallic clunk, a turning of a key. Two men in suits came in, just as on the night of our abduction. I hugged my sister protectively but one of the men kicked ruthlessly and sent me flying across the cell.

The other man swung her over his shoulder like a piece of meat.

“Get off her!” I said, but my assailant pointed his gun at me. I clenched my jaw, resisting the urge to fight him.

“Leave her be! She’s ill!” I pleaded in despair.

They turned around and started walking out of the cell with Akilina.

“Where are you taking her? Answer me!” I launched after him, only to be dealt a blow to my stomach.

I was a cripple, too weak to overpower them. They shut the door and left me in the cell alone. She was gone. Who knew what they would do to her? My only motivation for escape had been taken away from me and I knew I would not see her again.

Few more nights had passed in solitude. They fed me although I hardly ate; I had no reason or hope to be alive for long. Soon, my turn would come.

I crawled towards the drain to relieve myself. Then I heard it when I squatted — a feeble whisper came from the depths of the gutter.

I resisted the faecal urge and pressed my ear towards the stinking hole in the ground. A sudden smell of shit assaulted my nostrils and I felt bilious.

“Is anyone there?” I whispered into the opening, too frightened of what or who might be down there. What if it was another trap?

I was met with silence. I tried again.

“Hello? Is anyone down there?” My heart rate increased when I heard a soft answer.

“Do not be afraid. Your sister still lives…” said the voice from the deep.